Hawker Colours

In Singapore’s bustling hawker centers—home to more than 120 clusters of small, family-run food stalls—the color of a plate can be just as iconic as what’s served on it. Some diners swear by the stall with blue plates; others are loyal to green.

So when a proposal emerged to standardize tableware colors for dishwashing efficiency, it sparked a national debate.

Hawker Colours is a smart, playful exploration of that debate and what it reveals about culture, memory, and appetite. The book includes survey data on preferred plate colors for thirty beloved dishes (black for chicken teriyaki don; green for halal meals), interviews with hawkers about their choices, and commentary from local manufacturers.

Designed with wit and care, it features fifteen glossy pages printed in top tableware hues (complete with RGB, CMYK, and HEX codes), inventive graphics, and a die-cut cover resembling a plate.

There are five different cover colors—let us surprise you.

Paperback. Color photographs throughout.